Percutaneous coronary intervention and bypass grafting are effective for relieving symptoms and improving outcome in patients with coronary artery disease. Despite advances in medical treatment and revascularisation procedures, some patients with symptomatic ischaemic cardiomyopathy are not candidates for revascularisation. As life expectancy increases, interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons face patients with more complex disease, such as those with diffuse coronary disease that cannot be completely revascularised.